Klinsmann was sacked after the U.S. began CONCACAF's hexagonal phase of 2018 World Cup qualifying with losses to Mexico and Costa Rica.

“I was a 1000% convinced that we were going to qualify for Russia 2018,” Klinsmann said. “After those two losses, it's now down to a new coach getting the job done. I'm still convinced he will get and the team will get the job done. We'll have a tremendous 2017 and hopefully a tremendous World Cup in Russia.”

“Keep supporting your team,” he added. “It's your national team. You own that team. Push them in all the qualifiers now coming up to get all the points that we need to be in Russia in 2018.”